


The Black Paladin

by noumenon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, black paladin lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:32:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noumenon/pseuds/noumenon
Summary: Shiro was gone.He vanished into thin air after the battle with Zarkon and no one had any idea what to do. The Black Lion was back inside the castle with the shields up so nobody could even get close to her. The Hall of Lions felt cold and empty with the Black Lion just sitting there and looking majestic as ever but now with blackened eyes that might never light up again.





	

Shiro was gone.

He vanished into thin air after the battle with Zarkon and no one had any idea what to do. The Black Lion was back inside the castle with the shields up so nobody could even get close to her. The Hall of Lions felt cold and empty with the Black Lion just sitting there and looking majestic as ever but now with blackened eyes that might never light up again.

“You must miss him, too.” Keith said. He put his hand against the force field and sighed. “I miss him a lot, but the universe needs Voltron. We need someone to lead, to pilot you.” He dropped his hands to his side and balled them into fists. “Shiro said that he wanted me to pilot the Black Lion if anything happened to him, but I guess he never really asked you what you wanted.”

“Shiro really said that?”

Keith turned around, shocked to hear the sound of another voice. “Lance?”

“I just, I wanted to see Black.” Lance said softly. He walked over to the force field and stood by Keith. “Shiro wanted you to be the leader?” 

“Yeah, but I don’t know why.” Keith admitted. “Honestly, I never thought I’d be the best leader, and I guess I was right, I can’t even get close to his lion.” He tried knocking on the force field the way Lance did when they first found Blue. “She doesn’t want me! What am I supposed to? What are we supposed to? Shiro wanted this for me but I can’t do anything.” He punched the shield. “What do you want from me?” He demanded, punching the shield again. The shield fizzled under his fist but refused to budge. 

Lance grabbed his hand and pulled him away. “Keith! Calm down.”

“How am I supposed to calm down?” Keith demanded, eyes flaring as he yanked his hand free of Lance’s grip. “I’m supposed to do this, but I can’t.” He raised his fist to punch the shield again. 

“Keith, stop it! Shiro wouldn’t have wanted this.”

The anger in Keith’s eyes seemed to diminish, just a bit, and he lowered his hand and looked down at the ground. “I feel so lost without him.”

“I know how you feel.” Lance told him. He looked through the shield at the lion, cold and powered down without her paladin around. Lance reached up and touched the shield. “I miss him. I know you were closer to him than I was but,” He stopped talking. The shield surrounding the lion dissipated under his touch.

“Lance.” Keith was staring at him. “The shields just,”

“No.” Lance was backing away, his going wide as the lion’s eyes began to glow with soft light. “It was just a delayed reaction to you, Keith. I – it wasn’t for me. It couldn’t have been.”

“What are you talking about? The lion chose you Lance, you can’t just pretend that it didn’t!”

Lance didn’t answer him, he turned around and ran down the corridor before Keith could think of something to say to him. By the time he processed Lance’s weird reaction, he was gone.

“Lance! Get back here!” Keith yelled, taking off after him. He stopped as the hallways split into different paths. “Ugh, Lance.” He mumbled. “Where did you go?” He took a deep breath and stopped moving, trying to think of where Lance could have gone. There was no trace of Lance, it’s not like they were in the woods where a trail could be left behind. The flat floors offered no clues as to which direction Lance ran. “Patience.” He said to himself, trying to focus. He took a deep breath and listened. Down the hallway to his left he heard footsteps that seemed to be slowing down. Keith followed the sound, staying quiet as not to giveaway his position so Lance could run again. He moved slowly, listening for any hints as to where Lance might be. The footsteps stopped, and Keith kept moving.

“Lance?”

“I’m not going to be the black paladin, so don’t even bother.” Lance was sitting down in the hallway hugging his legs to his chest. “You pilot her.”

“I can’t, Lance. Black didn’t choose me, she chose you.” 

“Yeah, so what? It was obviously a mistake.”

Keith sat down next to Lance. “Lance.”

Lance didn’t look at him.

“Lance.” Keith said again, sterner this time. “Look at me.” He put his hand against Lance’s cheek and made him look over. “Talk to me.”

“Why would the Black Lion choose me?” Lance asked. He let go of his legs so he could scoot a few inches away from Keith. His palms were flat against the floor and his nails scraping against the tiles.

“Obviously it thinks you’re the best choice. You don’t have to understand it, you just have to accept it.” Keith glanced down at the new space between them and frowned. “Lance, I want to be here for you, you know. This is your destiny or whatever, so you should at least try.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re actually good at stuff! You’re a great pilot, you’re a great fighter, Shiro said you’d be a good leader – nobody ever expected anything from me because I’ve never been good enough for anything.”

“You can’t really think that.” Keith said softly.

“Of course I do. It’s the truth.” Lance said. “I’m barely even good enough to keep as the Blue Paladin. I don’t contribute anything to the team except another pilot, a job anyone could take and do better.”

“Well, I don’t think that.”

“I don’t want your pity.” Lance spat. His gaze may have been taken as cruel if not for the reddened tint of his nose and glossy eyes as he did his best to hold back tears that were starting to form. “You don’t have to say this crap to make me feel better. I’ve known I’m not good enough since the Garrison.”

“No.” Keith took hold of Lance’s hand and gripped it tightly. “I think you’re amazing.”

Lance used his free hand to rub at his eyes, briefly scratching at his cheeks as if the scratch marks could cover up the way his skin was reddening. “I already told you I don’t want your pity, so stop it.” A tear rolled down his cheek and he looked away. “Go back to the lions.”

Keith leaned over and pressed his lips softly against Lance’s cheek, kissing away the tear that had fallen. “Lance, I’m not lying and I’m not pitying you.” He said. “I really do think you’re amazing. You’ve been leading for awhile now, just because I never listened to you doesn’t mean you didn’t know what was best. You stopped me from being reckless on the Balmera, you came up with a great plan then, too. And you tell me not to do reckless and stupid things all the time, because you know what’s best for the team as a whole, in a way I never will.”

“Well when you say it like that,” Lance forced out a half-hearted chuckle that sounded more like a cough than anything else. He wiggled his hand free of Keith’s grip enough to grasp it back. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe.”

“Of course I’m right.”

Lance took a deep breath and looked back over at Keith, meeting his eyes. “Why did you follow me?”

“Why did I follow you? You just bolted out of there, I had no idea what you were thinking but I was worried.”

“And,” Lance used his free hand to rub the spot on his cheek where Keith had kissed him, “That?”

“Oh.” Keith said. “I don’t know, I guess it just felt like the right thing to do.” He glanced away for a second, an embarrassed grin growing on his face. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done it.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s just,” Lance leaned over and pressed his lips against Keith’s for just an instant. “I would have preferred something like that.”

“Oh.” Keith’s eyes widened and he could feel his face heating up. “So, that’s all you need for some self-confidence?”

Lance laughed, most of the sad tones now gone from his voice. “Sure, kisses from someone cute are a cure-all.”

“Well if you’re feeling better, do you want to try getting in your new lion?” Keith asked.

“Only if you’ll come with me.” Lance was back to his usual flirty self again, and Keith felt warm under his skin now that it was directed at him.

“Yeah, sure thing.” Keith smiled. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my short lil story! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Comments make me very happy, so if you liked it, consider leaving a comment!


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